Over 359,000 passengers welcomed by Malta International Airport in February

• Traffic through Malta Airport up 2.9 per cent in February• The French and Spanish markets register strong growth among top 5

Last month was the second February which saw Malta International Airport surpass the 300,000 passenger mark. Totalling 359,395 passenger movements, traffic for February grew by 2.9 per cent over February 2018.

This growth in passenger movements was registered alongside an increase of 8.9 per cent in aircraft movements and an improvement of 6.4 per cent in seat capacity. Measuring the occupancy of seats available on flights operated from Malta Airport, seat load factor (SLF) for February stood at 75.9 per cent.

Last month, the United Kingdom moved back to the top of the list of Malta International Airport’s main drivers of passenger traffic, after having dropped a place in January. The UK market was followed by Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, which were cumulatively responsible for more than 60 per cent of all passenger movements recorded in February.

While the top three markets all registered a decrease ranging between -0.8 per cent and -5.5 per cent, France and Spain continued the growth trend observed at the beginning of the year into February.

France posted growth of 15.6 per cent, partly stemming from developments such as the operation of the Bordeaux and Paris Beauvais routes during the winter season for the first time and better flight frequencies on the Paris Charles de Gaulle route.

On the other hand, a spike of 75.4 per cent was observed with regard to passenger movements from Spain, resulting from improved connections with this market throughout the winter season.